Impact of rapid MALDI-TOF MS and susceptibilities on hospitalized children with Gram-negative bloodstream infections

Abstract

Rapid pathogen identification and susceptibility testing is essential for optimizing antimicrobial therapy in pediatric Gram-negative bloodstream infections. This study demonstrates that direct from blood culture broth identification with MALDI-TOF MS along with direct AST led to faster time to susceptibilities and time to optimal therapy in patients with GN-BSI. Despite this, there exists a 17-h gap between results and optimization of antibiotics. This suggests rapid diagnostic testing has not been effectively integrated into clinical practice and the need for active antimicrobial stewardship to improve the impact of these faster laboratory diagnostics.